Paris Jackson reveals what it was like meeting her mother at 15 after she gave up custody

Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris has spoken out about what it was like meeting her mother, Debbie Rowe, for the first time at 15 years old.

When Michael and Rowe divorced in 2000, the Thriller singer received full custody of Paris and her brother Prince. In 2001, their mother had her parental rights officially terminated, claiming Michael was doing a great job at raising them and she didn’t want to get in the way.

Rowe, who was a dermatology nurse and medical assistant at the time, agreed to let Michael raise the kids. She worked at Dr Arnold Klein’s Beverly Hills dermatologist clinic, and he treated Michael Jackson, so that’s how they met.

Michael raised Paris and Prince alone with the help of other family members, and Paris said she didn’t even know she had a mother until she was older.

Credit: Paris Jackson/Instagram

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, she recalled: “Eventually, I remember kind of asking about it when I was probably around like 10 or 11, and the answers I got were sufficient to me. Just like, ‘Oh, like, what’s her name?’ And I got told her name, and I’m like, ‘Alright, cool’.”

The pair reconnected when she was 15, but they didn’t really start getting close until later in her teens. Recalling the moment they first met, Paris said: “I remember coming downstairs, and she was in the living room with my grandma. I came in. I was just like, ‘Hey, Mum,’ and she was like, ‘Hi.’ I sat down. We talked for a second. Then we went out for the day and just hung out.”

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Debbie, 67 and Paris, 28, are now really close, and Paris thinks the fact she didn’t have any expectations about her mother really helped their bond. She has spoken on many occasions about how she doesn’t resent her mother for not being present in their upbringing and giving full custody to Michael.

Credit: Paris Jackson/Instagram

“She’s a Sag[ittarius], so she’s got the fire. I’m an Aries, I got the fire… We’re very similar,” she said. “I think what’s really cool about my process, just in general, in all things, is learning how expectations kind of f**k us up, and if I walk into a relationship with expectations, [I’m] probably gonna end up being maybe disappointed or frustrated or irritated or resentment will be born or something, you know.

“When I walk into something and I don’t have expectations, it creates this really cool space for something organic to just blossom.”

In 2021, Paris told Willow Smith “It’s just cool having her [mum] as a friend” on her podcast Red Table Talk. She added: “It’s cool, getting to know her, seeing how similar we are, getting into what kind of music she really likes. She really likes country and folk, so I sent her some of the stuff I’m working on.”

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Featured image credit: Paris Jackson/Instagram